Friday, December 22

Rashard Lewis Out 8 Weeks

26 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Bob Hill's got to be sitting there wondering what the hell he did to deserve this. First, the Spurs can him after David Robinson gets hurt; Popovich tanks the season and S.A. winds up with Duncan and Hill gets the shaft.

Now, the Sonics will likely finish the year at the bottom of the league, with a good chance at Oden ... and Hill will probably get fired.

He might take a one year contract. He is already getting 30+ million from the Knicks and the Pistons.

Larry (or someone like Larry) is exactly what this team needs. They need a coach who understands clock management, and can emphasize team defense. Look how many games the Sonics have lost in the last few minutes by a few points after having a large lead. Defense, defense, defense. The bigs are all young and inexperienced, so you need a good team system to compensate.

Nate McMillan as a coach doesn't stand remotely close to where Ray Allen stands as a player in this league. You'd be downgrading if you took Nate over Ray. But you'd be a total fool to let someone like Hill coach a team with Ray and Rashard in it.

What we need is a strong center and a coach and this team can be a contender in the NW conference. Not this season though. This season's long over.

No disrespect to Ray but give me Nate. Or as a compromise, keep Ray and get rid of Hill. I just thought of something funny...what if the Sonics get the number one pick and Oden decides to stay another year at Ohio State? That would be so terrible I can't stop laughing. Anyway, Happy Holidays all!

The idea is if we re-signed Nate we could of used the money earmarked for Ray to get someone younger, who knows how to play defense. Probably for less money. Plus the likely sign and trade players (think Magette) we'd have gotten. I wish we'd done that.

No coach would ever take a 1 year deal and frankly it is a ludicrous suggestion.

Coaches in that situation have virtually no leverage over the players who are signed long term and given that the team is trying to get a new arena built going through 3 or 4 coaches in the same number of years is absolute folly.

it doesn't matter how long a coach has been around or how long he is going to be around. championship teams play hard for any coach. fact is, hill is not a good coach and he needs to go. to keep him would be a ludicrous suggestion and folly.

Artest won't finish a season, and he isn't there when you need him. Need proof? How about Artest in Indy? 2004 and 2005 Division Champs, best record in the East (2004) strong team with Jermaine O'Neal, Harrington and a non-injured Tinsley. Still couldn't get it done. In fact, Artest's emotional bone headed foul on Richard Hamilton cost the Pacers the game and the series in 2005.

This team needs a coach. It needs a coach who can manage the clock, call timely timeouts, and stress defense.

It also needs a veteran center to go along with all the kids. The Sonics are soft, soft, soft in the middle.

i totally agree we need a centre that has a bit of experience i think that if we keep the team we have and get some experince into the youngsters the team might just about be ready by the time we move to OAK city... if this team is goin to be a contender in the near future we need a total change in the team! but i still think we have a good side its the coaching and the improvement of the players is very slow... look at luke ridnour i think he could be such a good player if he played a bit more as a 2nd PG in a better team and then took over but thats ok he will still end up been a fantastic player...

How many coaches do you suggest we go through before admitting the combo of players we have is the problem? You think the last 4 coaches haven't been stressing defence? Since bad defence has been our trademark for several seasons now, it should be obvious to anyone not a total idiot that this combo of guys will not get it done defensively. Trade Lewis (we should have gone after Iverson), trade Collison (guy just cannot finish), trade Swift and get some experience & toughness!

Perhaps I'm a total idiot, but what tough, experienced player do you get for Collison, and Swift? I don't really think that Rashard is the problem. But suppose you trade Rashard, Collison and Swift... who is available? Ron Artest maybe, but he has proven to be pretty unreliable. No doubt he brings experience and toughness though. Coaches make a huge difference, and Hill does not stress defense. With Earl Watson and Luke Ridnour, you have a very quick backcourt that could use traps and pressure defense, allowing the inexperienced frontcourt to at least setup a defense. You could employ help defense and double teams consistently to makeup for the weaknesses of the kids. There are lots of things you could do with this roster that would help on the defensive end.

I know how to give this team toughness. Fire Hill. Make Fortson player/coach. Give him full authority. Sure, there's a chance we could see the first reverse PJ Carlesimo but one thing the team wouldn't lack is toughness.